The Deal
by MikeySpike
Summary: Set at the start of Buffy Season 6 - The Urn of Osiris was delivered damaged...The Scoobies lose all hope of bringing Buffy back, but Dawn has other ideas...


Please note, I'm aware the timelines of the two shows don't match. This is the first piece of fan fiction I've written fully, and the first piece of writing I've done in a while, so I am a little rusty...

Set at the start of season 6 Buffy, end of season 2 Supernatural.

The Deal

No one ever went into the training room since Buffy died. That's why it was the perfect place to hide out for some much needed alone time. A place where she wouldn't be questioned every five minutes about whether she had eaten, whether she was OK or if she needed anything. Somehow saying that she just needed to be left alone just made them worry about them all the more. Glancing up at the training dummy, Dawn wondered if she would get away with a few punches without everyone wigging out. Her eyes drifted to the door, which had been left slightly open, as she had promised to do.

Dawn tip toed over to the door and peered out. Willow, Xander and Tara were at the big table, like normal talking about anything but the pile of books that were scattered around them. Still, they were too deep into conversation to notice what she was doing. However, just as she was about to close the door, the bell rang at the front door and Anya walked in with a package. Not particularly a significant event in itself, it was more the way that Anya was carrying it that garnered Dawn's attention. Anya was holding it in front of her, very carefully and nervously like she was holding a bomb.

"Anya…..you brought it here?!" Xander exclaimed. "Dawn's in the next room!"

Dawn stepped back and flattened herself against the wall as four sets of eyes had turned to the training room, to see if she was in earshot. Once Anya started talking again, Dawn decided it was safe to return to the door.

"I know Xander, but...does it sound a bit…broken to you?" she asked, placing the box on the table, its contents rattling ominously.

The four friends looked at each other, then Willow's eyebrows knitted together, her eyes turned toward Anya accusingly.

"I didn't do it!" Anya said defensively. "I'd have shouted at the delivery guy If I had seen him and the customer complaints line said I might be on hold for up to five minutes! Five minutes! Who has five minutes when there's money to be made!"

The four friends looked at each other, each fearing the worst.

"Look, just open it. Maybe it's just chipped? Or cracked? Nothing a bit of glue won't fix…." Xander said.

"No, it has to be in perfect condition for it to work." Willow warned. "Buffy might be stuck in magical limbo forever!" Willow said, Tara reaching out a hand to calm the witch down, who looked like she might hyperventilate.

Back in the training room, a tear trickled down Dawn's face. There was a chance to bring her sister back, a chance that appeared to have been ruined by a clumsy courier and now Buffy was stuck in magical limbo – that's what Willow said, right? Magical limbo, so she wasn't really dead like her mom, but in trouble.

Peering back into the other room, Dawn watched as they gently opened the box and removed it's contents – a vase that was broken into pieces. Willow was sobbing as she picked each piece out of the box.

"It's over…..it's really really over!"

Suddenly they heard a door slam, causing Xander to jump out of his seat and run over to the training room, the others following close behind.

"OK, how much do you think she heard?" Xander asked nervously, looking at the now open back door.

"I'd say enough!" Willow said, going over to the back door, but Dawn was long gone.

"What was she doing back here anyway?" Tara asked.

"Homework. Apparently she could concentrate better in here. I figured she must have felt closer to Buffy here and we'd hear it if…you know, she was using any of the...stuff… in here…" Willow explained.

"Oh yeah," Xander said, walking over to the middle of the room. "well unless school has changed A LOT since we went there, I'd say this was something more extra curricular." He held up a spell book. "This is a little more advanced than 'the Dummies guide to Wicca.'

Dawn left the magic shop in tears, clutching a newspaper clipping in her sweaty hand. After a sneaky visit home to pick up her bag, missing her friends by minutes, she left and caught the next bus to Mississippi. She slouched down in her seat and stared down at the newspaper clipping, which contained a picture of a man and his wife, with the headline 'sold my soul for love'.

It took her two days to get to where she wanted to go, including a stop off at a seedy hotel she could barely afford and a hitched ride to the middle of nowhere from a man who now knew the meaning of 'no means no', but she was finally there, at the crossroads. Same place as the man who got his wife back. She had all the ingredients she needed, going by the book – a box containing a picture of her, a bone from a black cat she had 'procured' from the magic shop and some dirt from Buffy's grave. All she needed to do now was bury the box in the centre of the crossroads and wait. There was one problem, though. She was not alone.

"Well ain't this interesting." the man said. He looked to be in his mid to late twenties and held the haunted look of someone that had seen too much too soon.

"I don't suppose your out here looking for a rave or something?" the man asked. He was carrying a box remarkably similar to the one she had in her bag.

"I'm guessing I'm out here for the same reason as you." Dawn said simply. "Can these things even be done at the same time?"

"Don't know." The guy said, then opening his mouth and then forcing it shut again.

"I don't suppose it would be worth trying to talk you out of this?" he asked.

"Good luck trying that without looking like a big hypocrite." Dawn said evenly.

"Fair point, but going to try anyways." the guy said, not breaking eye contact. "You realize that by doing this then somewhere down the line you'll die and your soul will become some demon's little bitch, right?"

"The world needs her." Dawn said shrugging her shoulders. "I need her. She's like...a super hero. People will die without her. Besides, she's stuck in magical limbo..." Dawn said the last part a little quieter than the rest, biting her lip and looking down at her shoes.

"Magical limbo, huh?" the guy said. "That how you justify it to others, or just yourself?"

"I don't have to justify this to you." Dawn said, raising her eyebrows. "Who are you, anyway?"

"My name's Dean Winchester." Dean said, sighing. "I'm kind of an...expert. In the supernatural." Dean said tentatively.

"My sisters the Slayer. I help with research, so kind of an expert myself."

"Listen sweetheart, I can see you've seen things, you're way to level headed around this not to have, but you're dealing with really dark stuff here. You're not ready for this. Hell I don't think I'm ready for this. What's a Slayer anyway?"

"You know, the Vampire Slayer? The one girl in all the world that can fight the forces of evil, yaddy yadda yadda? Thought you would have known that, being the expert and all." Dawn said, reaching into her bag. "And don't call me sweetheart."

Dean rubbed his chin and studied Dawn for a moment. "What's your name?"

"Dawn."

"Dawn, you're trying to bring back your sister, right?"

"Yeah...what do you want from all this?"

"I'm trying to bring back my brother...he's kind of a hero too..."

"Is that the way you justify it to yourself or to others?"

"Touché." Dean said, with a slight smirk.

"Look, this is getting us nowhere. You want something, I want something, we both know it's wrong and we're both going to do it anyway."

"Yeah, but I'm an adult." Dean said lamely, earning him a stern look from Dawn. "Fine, lets get this over with." he relented. Dawn reached into her bag for the trowel she brought with her, but put it away again when she realized Dean had a shovel. They buried their boxes then waited.

"Here goes." Dean said, but before long he got impatient. "Oh come on, get out here you bitch!" he yelled.

"This always the way you make friends?" Dawn asked.

"Trust me sister, whatever son of a bitch appears to make the deal, they are far from friend material."

"Oh that's a bit harsh, Dean." A female voice came from behind them. Both of them turned round real fast.

"Awww, what's the matter Deany? You got your own family killed and now you're here to get poor little Sammy back?" she mocked. "As for you, not even sure you're eligible for a deal, given that you've only been alive for about a year." she said to Dawn.

"Long story." Dawn said in response to Dean's frowning look.

"Yes, I can see through the facade. The monks didn't do that good a job. But that's besides the point. Why should I help either of you?"

"Ten years. You bring Sammy back, then come back to collect in ten years."

"Hmmm...let me think about that...ummmmm no." the demon said, with a large smile.

"No?!" Dean objected. "Ten years is standard."

"This ain't a standard deal, Dean. You and your brother hunt us. So would your sister, if she weren't so ignorant." the demon said, turning to Dawn.

"Fine, I'll go lower! Just bring Sammy back!" Dean said, breaking his cool de-meaner for the first time.

"Don't beg Dean, it's such a big turn off." she pouted. "You're broken goods. Both of you are..." she said, turning away slowly.

"Come on, this is my brother we're talking about! Five years! Five years, then you collect!"

"And my sister!" Dawn chimed in.

"Fine." the Demon said, sighing. "One year. You each get one year to get Sasquatch and Barbie back. That's the deal."

"Fine." Dean answered first, Dawn was a little more reluctant.

"To be clear, we have one year to live and in return, you'll bring Sam and Buffy back?" Dawn said.

"Wow, you really want to dot the I's and cross the T's, huh? I like that." the demon said, giving the young girl her most charming smile. "Yes, that is exactly the deal. There are no tricks here. Little bro and big sis come back and in a years time you die and your soul belongs to us. There is one itty bitty thing, though..." the demon said, fiddling with a lock of her hair. "If either of you or any of your friends does anything to get you out of the deal, then the it's off. They drop dead like that." she said clicking her fingers. "Got it?"

"Less of the chit chat, lets seal the deal already!" Dean said, moving forward.

"Wow. So eager to fling your life away. Do you really feel that worthless?" the demon said, before she kissed Dean.

"Your turn, sweetness." the demon said turning to Dawn, who was looking wide eyed between the demon and Dean. "Just one little kiss and Buffy comes back all shiny and new. Just make sure Deano here gets you back to your hell whole safely. Wouldn't want you to feel cheated, huh?"

"You can still..." Dean said and then muttered "back out of this" after Dawn quickly moved forward and planted a kiss on the demons lips. Dean and Dawn both looked at each other, then back again but the demon was gone.

"I'm sorry." Dean said toward Dawn, but not looking directly at her.

"For what?"

"For the bum deal, for not stopping you...this is not how it should have gone down."

"It's not your fault." Dawn said "But if it will make you feel better, I could do with a lift home..."


End file.
